The dedication of the Bass Reeves Monument will go on this weekend despite the absence of the event's most heralded guest.

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James Pickens of "Grey's Anatomy" had planned to be in Fort Smith this weekend to help celebrate one of the river valley's most influential African-Americans, but circumstances will not allow him to make the trip.

Pickens, better known to fans of the show as Dr. Richard Webber, had planned to be in town for the dedication of the Bass Reeves Monument. Pickens was going to attend a dinner Friday night and a ceremony on Saturday morning.

Reeves hunted down outlaws during the time Judge Isaac Parker ruled the courts.

Reeves overcame many of the difficulties African-Americans faced in the late 1800s. Despite never learning to read or write, Reeves escaped slavery in Texas and took refuge with Seminole and Creek Indian tribes in Oklahoma.

Eventually, Reeves' path led him to Arkansas.

Pickens said he has a great personal interest in the history of Reeves.

"I'd gotten this book as a birthday present, and it was very intrigued by because there was very little known about African-Americans' contributions in settling the West after the Civil War," he told 40/29's Craig Cannon in an exclusive interview. "And in reading this book, they had a section about a U.S. deputy marshal, named Bass Reeves."

Pickens said he would put the book on the shelf, but then see a new article here and there and the story of Reeves inspired him more.

"I was intrigued by this man's exploits," he said. "It rivaled anything by Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp had ever done."

Parker, better known as the Hanging Judge, recruited Reeves as the first black deputy marshal west of the Mississippi as part of a 200-man force to tame the west badlands around Fort Smith.

"He arrested over 3,000 men and women, supposedly responsible for the killing of 16 to 17 of those," he said. "He was never injured."

Pickens knows Reeves story by heart.

"I think there were other incredible lawmen of that time," he said. "But his story was the stuff you only see on TV and movies, but he actually did these incredible feats and these exploits."